believe it or not

Idioms

It's true, whether or not you agree, as in Believe it or not, I finally finished painting the house. Originating in the 1800s, this phrase gained currency as the title of a cartoon series begun in 1918 by Robert Ripley and continuing to run in American newspapers long after his death in 1949. Each drawing presented a strange but supposedly true phenomenon, such as a two-headed chicken.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A faculty study agrees with many of academia’s critics, believe it or not.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

But, believe it or not, Ponomari's stand-in role might not have been the most surprising on the Wuthering Heights set.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Many of my friends, believe it or not, they worked in GE for their whole lives.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 2026

But those implausible sci-fi scenarios, believe it or not, are nowhere near the worst-case possibilities.

From Salon • Jan. 18, 2026

And believe it or not, I had the most successful year of my life.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023